Perhaps you can relate: A down on his luck recent college grad searching for directon; his girlfriend dumps him; he tries to win her back with a variety of unusual tactics – even using a giant lizard.
This is what “Three Easy Payments” is about, a film written by Ohio State senior Scott Sutton. The production premieres this weekend at the Drexel Gateway Theater. Inspired by HBO’s “Project Greenlight,” the OSU student organization Reel Buckeye Productions held a script writing contest, the winner seeing their story made into a feature length movie. Once chosen, a mostly student cast and crew worked on all aspects of the movie, from casting through editing, making the film a reality.
More than 30 scripts were submitted to Reel Buckeye Productions in hopes of having their film selected to be put on the big screen. After months of review, 21-year-old Scott Sutton’s was chosen.
A triple major in English, microbiology and psychology, Sutton said he feels many emotions seeing his script realized as a movie.
“To tell the truth, it’s scary. I fear that Reel Buckeye did such a good job with how the film looks and sounds that viewers will only be left with the writing to critique,” Sutton said.
“In all seriousness, it’s really an exciting and very unique, somewhat surreal experience,” he said.
After being dumped by his girlfriend, Anna (Kate Oliva), Kyle Bailey (Bryan Webb) turns to a strange program looking to cure his love woes. Humor follows as Kyle receives an array of unusual objects, including a giant lizard, which in ‘three easy payments’ promise to help win back his love’s heart.
Bryan Webb, a senior in marketing plays the lead role of Kyle Bailey. Webb had little previous acting experience and felt the pressure to perform well because of all the hard work that went into the production.
“The most difficult thing was overcoming intimidation,” Webb said. “A lot of people put a lot of dedication into (making the film). There were six months of pre-development just going into (filming). I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
With 130 people contributing to the movie in areas ranging from makeup to set design, the work hours were immense. They were also unpaid.
“This wasn’t a project with a whole lot of people with a whole lot of money,” said Director Adam Rex, a 23-year-old OSU graduate with a personalized study program major in film production. “It was a bunch of students taking time out of work – with no money and coming together.”
The film’s budget of around $18,000 was raised through a combination of private donations, grants, and fundraisers, but there were also some bigger contributions, including from the Undergraduate Student Government.
“USG are pretty much our executive producers,” said Producer Amira Soliman, a double major in film production and international studies. “They supported us throughout the entire project. I think they gave us $3,500 last year.”
For many this was the first experience making something so large.
Rex, who has worked on smaller projects, had never before directed a feature length film and was excited to see the little things that came with the finished product.
“It is really cool to see our poster up at the theater,” Rex said. “It feels like (all the work we did) was worth it.”
Soliman said she thinks audiences will appreciate the film and notice the effort that went into making it.
“The work everyone put into it shows up onscreen,” Soliman said. “It’s coherent, looks great and sounds great.”
“Three Easy Payments” premiered Thursday, Jan. 11 at the Drexel Gateway Theater and runs through Monday, Jan. 15. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Drexel Gateway box office.
Jim Baird can be reached at [email protected].
